East Syracuse, Liverpool formalizing shared-services agreement

Liverpool  The informal agreement between the villages of Liverpool and East Syracuse which returned Don Morris to Liverpool as its part-time chief has been favorably reviewed by officials from both villages.

L’pool police chief hires two experienced part-timers

After the recent resignation of two part-time police officers, Liverpool Police Chief Donald Morris has hired two replacements with years of experience in other area agencies.

At its Dec. 17 meeting, the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees accepted the resignations of part-time officers Jeff Cassino and Jeff Snoggles. The trustees approved the chief’s recommendation to hire William Gabriel, a deputy in the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, and Robert Wolf, who works for the North Syracuse Police Department.

“Both of these men have extensive credentials,” said Liverpool Mayor Gary White. “They’re both experienced investigators, and Chief Morris has had personal experience working with each of them.”

Gabriel often acts as a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, discussing major cases with members of the news media. For instance, he spoke to reporters at the scene of the hit-and-run homicide of teenager Joseph J. Ozimek III on Route 57 in early-October 2011. Later that year, Sheriff Kevin Walsh pinned a medal of valor on Gabriel’s uniform for taking charge at the scene of a house fire.

The village board also approved Morris’ recommendation that full-time officers Sean Pierce and Jerry Unger attend a workshop in Rochester in January in order to be recertified in the proper use of electroshock weapons, commonly called tasers.

Meanwhile, the informal shared-services agreement between the villages of Liverpool and East Syracuse which returned Morris to Liverpool as its part-time chief was set to be reviewed by village attorneys at the end of last month.

Morris had served as Liverpool’s chief from 1999 to 2007 before he becoming chief of the East Syracuse Police Department. On Aug. 31, he was hired here part-time to replace outgoing Chief Bill Becker.